Cruise ship ‘monsters’ stir discord in Venice
郵輪「怪獸」在威尼斯引起紛爭

The Costa Concordia ship lying off the coast of Giglio, Italy on May 18 last year.這張去年五月十八日攝於義大利的照片，是翻覆在Giglio海岸的「歌詩達協和號」。

Photo: Reuters照片：路透

A year on from the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster, the luxury liners that ply the waters just in front of St. Mark’s Square in Venice are stirring unease in the world-famous lagoon.

The debate pits conservationists who are up in arms about the environmental damage caused by the giant ships against supporters who say they bring the city much-needed revenue from passengers.

The sight of cruise ships as tall as apartment blocks just a few meters from St. Mark’s Basilica is an arresting one.

Official figures from the European Cruise Council show that the cruise industry brought some 536 million euros in revenue to Venice last year and employs 5,470 people in the city.

The arguments from cruise ship supporters fails to convince Cristiano Gasparetto, a local architect and campaigner for conservation group Italia Nostra who has taken a leading role against the cruises.

Gasparetto said the cruises damage the foundations of ancient buildings and contribute to atmospheric pollution since even when they are docked they can produce the equivalent of emissions from 15,500 cars every day.

Given Venice’s global status as an architectural treasure, the debate has foreigners riled up too. World cultural figures including Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk and US writer Bill Viola signed a petition to the Italian government in October asking for restrictions to be enforced.

(AFP)

在「歌詩達協和號」觸礁翻覆事故發生一年後，往返於威尼斯聖馬可廣場前方海域的豪華郵輪，在這座舉世知名的潟湖引發不安。

對於這些大型船隻所造成的環境傷害已忍無可忍的保育人士，以及主張郵輪旅客能替城市帶來亟需收益的支持者之間，在這場爭議針鋒相對。

光是看到這種跟連棟公寓住宅一樣高的郵輪，出現在距聖馬可大教堂僅有幾公尺遠的地方，就足以讓人目瞪口呆。

根據歐洲郵輪委員會官方數據顯示，郵輪業去年替威尼斯帶來五億三千六百萬歐元的收入，更在市內雇用了五千四百七十人。

但郵輪支持者的主張卻未能說服本地建築師加斯帕瑞多，他是保育團體「我們的義大利」的運動人士，堅決反對郵輪進入威尼斯。

TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字

1. pit against v. phr.

引起衝突 (yin2 qi3 chong1 tu2)

例: The team will be pitted against last year’s champion in the finals.